India, EAEU review roadmap for proposed FTA to deepen trade, market access

India and the five-nation grouping Eurasian Economic Commission have reviewed the roadmap for their proposed free trade agreement in goods with an aim to boost economic ties between the two, according to an official statement on Sunday.

On August 20 this year, India and the Eurasian Economic Union bloc inked terms of reference to start formal negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement.

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has visited Moscow last week to hold talks with Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission Andrey Slepnev and Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Mikhail Yurin.

"In the meeting with Minister Slepnev, the Commerce Secretary reviewed the next steps for the India-EAEU FTA in goods. The Terms of Reference signed on 20 August 2025 outline an 18-month work plan aimed at diversifying markets for Indian businesses, including MSMEs, farmers and fishermen," the commerce ministry said on Sunday.

The five members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

The development is important as India is looking to diversify its export markets due to high tariffs imposed by the US.

India and Russia also deliberated upon ways to boost bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2030.

In his discussions with Yurin, the commerce secretary discussed ways to enhance trade diversification, supply-chain resilience and cooperation in critical minerals.

"Both sides discussed a time-bound pathway across key sectors such as pharmaceuticals, telecom equipment, machinery, leather, automobiles and chemicals," it said, adding that quarterly regulator-to-regulator engagement was agreed upon to address certification requirements, listings of agricultural and marine businesses, prevention of monopolistic practices and other non-tariff issues.

The dialogue also covered practical measures related to logistics, payments and standards to improve predictability and ease of doing business for firms in both countries.

With a combined GDP of about USD 6.5 trillion, the proposed free trade agreement is expected to expand market access for Indian exporters, support diversification into new sectors and geographies, enhance competitiveness against non-market economies, and deliver significant benefits to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Russia is the top trading partner of India in the bloc, with bilateral trade worth USD 68.72 billion in 2024-25 (exports USD 4.88 billion and imports USD 63.84 billion). The high import numbers are because of crude oil imports.

The bilateral trade with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan was USD USD 315.18 million, USD 106.69 million, USD 349.48 million, and USD 56.78 million, respectively, in the last fiscal year.